Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-09-15
OLIVES LOVER.
Cornhill Magazine.


equally real, existence III dreamland.
Unlike the visions of others, his dreams
followed one another in series, till one day
he only woke to eat, drink, and loiter
away few harsh hours on earth before
plunging once again into the scenes of
his ideal life. he loved, wooed, and that
successfully, the fair lady of his dreams.
They lived together in happiness till an
untoward fate snatched her from him,
and he remained alone and widowed.
Under sush circumstances as these his lot
became too hard to bear. When awake
ne was unmarried and lonely; when
asleep, desolate and a widower. Grad
ually his strength failed hina, and though
he still continued to alternate between
one life and the other, the melancholy
which filled his sleeping hours pressed
upon him with such a heaviness thai one
morning when they came to awaken him
he was found dead. One mystery, of
course, history can not solve. Did he die
In his dreams or did he cease dreamlngS
But without waiting for an answer to such
a question we may lay the moral to heart,
and remember mot to lie on cur backs when
we go to bed. This much by prelude.
It was in the suburbs of one of our
large Northern towns that the family
lived which provides the heroine of this
story. Wandering up from the noisy
highway there ran quiet lane, shaded to
gloom with nigh trees, which hid the
the houses from the passers by. One of
these houses was the residence of
doctor with a large family, and, still
better, with a large pratice. Many as the
children were in number, the real center
of the household was fixed in the person
of the second daughter, Olive. Her sis
tiers, indeed, were good enough and pretty
enough to serve as attraction for many
lawn tennis party, bat she seemed to
stand apart from them rather by GER
tain indefnable charm of manner and
power of social sympathy than by reason
of any peculiar gift of beauty. TO such
she could scarcely lay clair2, and though
not deficient ia intelligence, she gained
no reputation SIS a wit, while she failed
in most of the little practical enterprises
which she undertook. Vet despite, and
perhaps, In consequence Of these defi-
ciencies, she continued To rule her sisters
and parents, and so too madden the hearts
of all the yoEth of the suburb that they
went in their xnultitudes TO all the places
where she played tennis, and expended
their hardearned money in bouquets
when the neighborhood ventured on Its
somewhat miniature balls. Yet, notwith-
standing all this, she, at least, remained
heart whole and free. So often had she
to exercise her prerogative of rejection
that il seemed hardly possible that she
wouiI ever be able to fly in the face of
habit5y answering suiSor in the atir-
native.
For sometime before the beginning of
our story there had been little of mote IN
the annals of the family. One sister had
been married and another become en-
gagged, but Olive lived on, contented and
happy, oftenest, indeed, quitely at home,
but SOM etimes making short rounds of
visits among friends.
On her return from enc of these short
ours of courtesy her manner seemed as
though it had undergone "a change. The
old quiet was superseded by a restIessn ess,
and though she was still lively at times
she loved best to seek out quaint paths in
the surrounding country, where she
might wander unobserye3 and unhurried.
She wonld come in froK1 her raMbles
flushed and bright, and then would join
gayly in the outbursts of mirth SO com
MON in large family. But the cause Of
the change was soon revealed. S0ne
morning she had wandered into the lane
before breakfast, and when she came
back she had brought the usual budget
of letters, which she had taken from the
postman at the gate. There was enc
which she had hidden in her pocket, Only
to rest there for q time, since no sooner
was the meal ever than she darted off 30
read it in private, hut shortly afterwaEd
returned to her mother with the version
of the old, old story.
It ran in this wise.
While staying at Swansea with some
friends she met a young man, a oarrister.
They had fallen in love, but he, as he had
no meaRs of his own. had striven, ap-
parently with success, to conceal his feel
ings; and SO they had parted without
any understanding, and, indeed, accord
ing to her, without any knowledge of
their mutual attachment. But now a
change had come in his fortunes. 4 dis
tant relative had died in New Zealand,
leaving him heir to his sheep farm, which
report had exalted to a most fabulous
value, vet even after every method of dis
count had been exhausted there still re-
manned enough to make him very
wealthy man. No sooner did he receive
the news than he wrote has.y letter to
Olive in which he besought her to be his
wife. He would, indeed, have come down
to the North himself, but the condition
In which the estate was left made it
necessary for him to take a short trip
out, while the necessity of settling his
affairs and making few preparations
rendered the few hours still remaining
before the departure of the overland mail
far too short to allow his absence. 1t
was fine, manly letter, and the few words
that accompanied it addressed to the par
ents made them hesitate in their resolve
to refuse or postpone their consent till
ne could ask it in person. Thus it was
that on the eve of his departure he re-
celved a letter (which gave him the an
swer he wished.
Thenceforth he was swept on his pre-
Paratiens by hurricane of JOY, and yet,
being prudent and barrister, unburden-
ed by too many briefs, he cultivated an
acquaintance with a solicitor and made
his will. This, at least, he told her. and
the reason which he assigned was hardly
such as to ease fond heart, for he wrote
that he wished to leave her everything he
had, in case an accident of some Kind
should overtake him. But love was not
much damped by such forebodings, and